Former Univeristy of Illinois wide receiver set for Hall of Fame nod

Receiver Williams proved he can play college game

Receiver Williams proved he can play college game

August 09, 2006|STEVE WOZNIAK Tribune Staff Writer

Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises. -- Demosthenes When David Williams arrived on the University of Illinois campus in 1983, he had no expectations of fame and fortune. No dreams of future pro success, or even surpassing his brother, Oliver, in the annals of Fighting Illini history. "Did I think I was going to be great? I was happy to just be playing," said Williams, who will be enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame this weekend. Williams, who was a consensus All-American wide receiver for Illinois in 1984 and 1985, did not come to Champaign with any notable hype. To everyone there, he was just the little brother of an All-Big Ten second team receiver. Williams' recruitment after one season at Harbor Junior College in San Pedro, Calif., seemed like a favor to his brother, the team's star receiver. And he was quickly reminded of the expectations put on him when he showed up to play for head coach Mike White. "When the depth chart came out, I was like fifth string," Williams laughs now. "I was like fifth string, but I knew I could play with those guys in front of me. "So I'm there in summer camp, fifth string, and after a while I'm like only one of the guys left. Everyone else was pulling hamstrings, blowing out their knees. They're just all going down with injuries, and suddenly I'm in the mix." One of those injured receivers in front of David on the depth chart was his brother. When Oliver missed the 1983 season with injury, it gave Williams the chance to create a reputation for himself independent of his brother. "I got in the first game, and I ended up catching five or six balls," said Williams. "Yeah, we lost, but the game's over, and I was thinking, 'Hey, I could play.'" Yes, he could. Illinois ran the table the rest of the season, and went to the Rose Bowl with a 10-1 record, where it lost to UCLA 45-9. Williams caught 59 passes for 870 yards in his first season, then capped it with 10 catches in the Rose Bowl. "They didn't know I could play like that," said Williams. "Heck, I didn't know I could play like that." His crowning achievement came in the season finale of that first season, a game against Michigan with the Illini's Rose Bowl bid on the line. "We hadn't beaten Michigan in I don't know how many years," Williams remembered. "It was like 79,000 people in the stadium, the score was 10-6, and I scored the last touchdown to win it. People were rushing the field and they're mobbing me. It was amazing." Amazing he continued to be. Williams topped himself the next year in 1984, leading all of Division I-A with 101 catches for 1,278 yards. In his senior season, he pulled down 85 balls for 1,047 yards, putting him second on the NCAA career receiving list at the time. He still holds 11 receiving records at Illinois. But how did he come out of nowhere? And how did he end up at Illinois? "Well, my big brother went to Illinois, so that was big," said Williams. "And those other schools got in late because they assumed I'd be at Harbor for another year. Most kids in those days played two years at a junior college before transferring." Those other schools included the two powerhouses in his native Los Angeles -- UCLA and USC -- along with UNLV and Oregon State. "They tried to get me after I had already decided to go to Illinois," said Williams. "And I remember the UCLA coach asking me 'Why are you going there? You know you'll never get to play in a Rose Bowl if you go there, right?' I guess he was wrong." Williams eventually was drafted by the Chicago Bears, and spent a few uneventful years in the NFL before a teammate with the Raiders gave him an idea on how to get more playing time. "I met somebody on the Raiders named Mervin Fernandez, and he told me there was some great chances to play up in Canada with the CFL," he said. "And I was there behind these guys making the big bucks, so you know they were going to play. "But with me, it wasn't about the money, I just loved to play. I had a hard time just sitting around and not being able to help the team, you know. Throw me the ball, I'll make plays. That's how I am." So Williams, a blip on the screen of NFL history, went north and found his home. He became the CFL's Most Outstanding Player in 1988, his debut season with the B.C. Lions, before bouncing off to Ottawa, Edmonton, Toronto and Winnipeg. Now, Williams is a Hall of Famer, an achievement he calls "the pinnacle of awards and achievements," but still not enough to get him recognized. "My whole life, I been Ollie's little brother," he said. "Even now, I walk down the street and people come up and say, 'Hey, aren't you Ollie's little brother?' That's how I'll always be known back home." But it doesn't bother David. After all, his brother was always one of his biggest heroes, and biggest fans. "You know, you love somebody and you care for them, what they say really matters, and I remember how he would call me after and say, 'Nice game.' That meant everything. "When I found out I was in the Hall, we weren't supposed to tell anybody right away, but I called my brother and he just said, 'It's about time.'" He now works for Jorgensen Steel Company in California, until maybe his former positions coach calls him again. Brad Childress was the receivers coach at Illinois, and now is the new head coach of the Minnesota Vikings. "We all thought he was going to get a college head coaching job," said Williams. "And I said then, 'If you get a head coaching job, call me. I'll come coach with you.' But he stayed in the NFL, and that's a whole different thing. But hey, who knows?" Who knows? That's probably just what Williams asked himself when he first saw his name listed on the fifth string.